Four Important Reasons to Vote in This Year’s Mid-Term Election

The midterm elections are upon us, and once again issues that Christians care about are front and center, reflected in the positions of candidates and their political parties.

Voters of all political persuasions are motivated to vote this year, and polls suggest many races are so close that no one can predict what will happen.

As the experts always note, turnout will be key.

If you haven’t already early-voted yet, I urge you to make sure your voice is heard tomorrow. Besides the usual issues that concern voters, such as the economy, national security, and taxes, let me give 4 important reasons why I think it’s critical for Christians to make their voices heard this year. 

1. Judges:  At the national level, more than a third of the U.S. Senate is up for re-election. Exercising their constitutional duty to offer “advice and consent,” Senators provide a crucial vote in determining what type of judicial philosophy will guide our nation’s federal courts. As the recent, razor-thin 50-48 Senate confirmation vote of Justice Brett Kavanaugh revealed, our guarantees of freedom of religion, speech, parental rights, and numerous others are vulnerable to even small shifts in the makeup of that body. 

1. Pro-family legislation: Critical pieces of pro-life, pro-religious freedom and pro-family legislation need majorities in both houses of Congress to pass. Over the past couple years, such legislation has passed in one chamber, only to be stalled or lost in the other due to the lack of a few votes.  Your vote might help push good candidates over the top in close races.

1. State issues: Thirty-six states will hold elections for governor this time around. Eighty-two percent of all state legislative seats will be up for election. The states, as we’ve all witnessed just this year in legal cases involving everything from Christian bakers to pregnancy care centers, are as much on the frontlines of religious freedom, free speech and other pro-family issues as the Congress. Not every pro-family issue needs to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court if we can pass good laws at the state level in the first place.

1. Ballot issues. Many states have important questions presented to their voters to decide. For example, four states have marijuana legalization on the ballot, and three have crucial life-affirming laws for voters to consider. Your thoughtful vote on such issues will impact lives in a positive way.

Elections can bring out the best and the worst in us. You’ve probably seen many political ads this election season that would qualify for the latter category. But in a democratic republic like ours, you and I are entrusted with a sacred duty to consider carefully who will serve us as our representatives in the halls of Congress and in state legislatures. That responsibility, I believe,  draws out what our Founders knew to be the very best in us as citizens. Indeed, we are called to seriously and prayerfully consider how our nation ought to be governed for the good of all.

Please make it a priority to vote on November 6^th!

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, government, voting November 5, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura